|
The TBF and the TBM |
|
|
Researched by Riley M. |
|
Introduction
Planes known
as torpedo bombers or, the TBF and the TBM, first appeared when the
Battle of Midway was going on which happened in the year 1942.
When you read this you will learn about the general characteristics of
the plane which is how heavy it is, how fast it goes, how long it is
and some other things like that. Another thing I am going to tall about
is the battles it was in and I am only going to talk about three
battles. I am going to tell you the positions in the plane. In
the production paragraph you are going to learn about the aircraft
carrier. The last thing that I am going to talk about is what its roll
is witch is pretty much his job. Now I hope you like it.
Plane characteristics
This
plane usually is 40 feet, 11 inches long and 15 feet, and 5 inches
high. It has a huge wing span of 54 ft. and 2 inches long. The wing
area is 490.02 feet. By 2 units. Its job is to bomb places and ships.
It weighs 10,545 pounds when it is empty and when it is loaded it can
weigh up to 17,893 pounds.
There are four guns on the
plane. The tail gunner has a 30 caliber mounted in the
back. The top gunner has a 50 caliber that is mounted too but his
gun can spin around. There are also two 50 calibers on each wing and
the driver can fire them.
The plane does not go that fast, only 276 mph. The rate of climb is 2,060 feet. per minute. The flying range is 1,000 miles.
WWII Battles
The
Midway Battle was huge, but only six TBF’s got to be in it. The fleet
commander sent 100, but they were too late to fight. The six
planes were sent out on June fourth 1942.They did not do so well
because only one plane came back and the gunner was dead.
The
Battle of Okinawa witch started in 1945 was also big except this time
they did a better job then before. They helped sink the ship Yamato on
April 7, 1945. The ship Yamato was a flagship. The planes hit it with
10 or more torpedoes.
The Solomon Islands was another battle
that took place in 1942. In this battle, they sent out 26
planes. Seven planes did not make it, but it was better then the
Battle of Midway. The planes helped sink the ship Ryujo witch was
a flag ship.
The Crew
The
pilot is the most important position in the plane. If there were
no pilot, the plane would not be in the air. In this plane, there is a
plastic bubble over his head. The pilot must target and drop the bombes.
Gunmen
have a really fun job. They get to fire an automatic machine gun.
Their gun is a 50 caliber and it can spin around. The gunman sits
right behind the pilot.
The tail gunner is in the back of the
plane. There are windows beside where he sits. When he is
not firing, he has a bench to sit on. When he is firing however, he has
to lie down. The tail gunner has a 30 caliber, which is mounted to the
floor of the plane.
Production
The
invention of the aircraft carrier made the success of the TBF and the
TBM possible. It was not made by the Americans, however. They actually
got the idea from the Germans. They made 2,293 TBF's at the end of
world war 2. They also made 7,546 TBM's at the end of world war
2.
Role
This plane had three jobs. One job
that it had was fleet protection. Fleet protection involved protecting
their ships or other planes. Another job is enemy ship bombing.
The last that they have is island bombing and that is where you help
your army win the battle going on, on the island
Conclusion
After
reading this report I hope you will have a little more appreciation for
the those who fought in world war 2 and the machines they built.
So now you have learned all about the TBF and the TBM.
Top of page